A heat pipe is a device that uses the heat of vaporization of a working fluid to transfer heat. If heat is added to a saturated fluid (a physical condition where the liquid and vapor phases coexist in equilibrium) at constant pressure, the energy addition will vaporize a portion of the liquid in an isothermal (constant temperature) process. Similarly, if heat is removed from a saturated fluid at constant pressure, a portion of the existing vapor will condense in an isothermal process.
A heat pipe uses the circulation of a saturated working fluid to transfer heat between two locations. The heat pipe is a sealed enclosure containing a two-phase liquid-vapor mixture. One end of the heat pipe is placed in contact with a heat source (referred to as the evaporator section), while the other end of the heat pipe is placed in contact with a heat sink (referred to as the condenser section). The heat pipe is designed and built so that during operation, the vapor produced by the heat addition in the evaporator section is allowed to flow toward the condenser section of the heat pipe, while the liquid produced by the heat rejection in the condenser section is forced to flow to the evaporator section.
The driving force that produces a liquid flow to the evaporator section may be achieved through a body force (e.g., gravity or centrifugal force), or, a capillary force that is created by including within the heat pipe a porous material (e.g., fine mesh screen, sintered metals, or a gauze) that acts as a wick. The present invention comprises a heat pipe that uses the centrifugal body force created by a rotating crank-shaped design and an internal wick structure to assist working fluid circulation.
Various objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.